Can you play other stuff on your TV by hooking the computer to it and using WMC?

There are remote controls available for WMC.

Windows Media Player on a PC with Windows but not a WMC version can play .tivo files if you have the right codecs, so I don't see why WMC couldn't.

WMC doesn't play .tivo files for me either, but WMP does. Is there a way to install the .tivo codec in WMC? I've not seen a way to do this. I am able to play .tivo files after they have been converted by kmttg on WMC though.

WMC doesn't play .tivo files for me either, but WMP does. Is there a way to install the .tivo codec in WMC? I've not seen a way to do this. I am able to play .tivo files after they have been converted by kmttg on WMC though.

I've never actually used any of the Media Center editions of Windows, and might not even recognize it if I came across it, but I've used an S-Video output from a PC's video card to put Windows Media Player on the screen so as to play a .tivo file there (but just as an experiment, since it's easier to just copy it back to a TiVo).

Since WMP wouldn't play .tivo files until I had the right codecs installed, I figured that might be the solution to get WMC to play them as well.

I turn them into mp4 with videoredo. If you get the settings right, you can upload them to the TIvo and they will play just fine. I upload with PyTivo but if you're not into that, you can use TivoDesktop. You can of course load Tivo files back onto your Tivo, but mp4 files are smaller.

I turn them into mp4 with videoredo. If you get the settings right, you can upload them to the TIvo and they will play just fine. I upload with PyTivo but if you're not into that, you can use TivoDesktop. You can of course load Tivo files back onto your Tivo, but mp4 files are smaller.

I use VideoReDo to convert them to MPEG-2 in a dvr-ms container. It's a lot faster than transcoding to MP4. If you automate that process with VAP it will even add metadata from TheTVDB if it's available.

Thanks for the replies. Windows Media Center shows icons for each of the Tivo files, but when you click on them, it says something like "location of file not found" or "cannot play". I have various codecs, but nothing works. I was hoping that I could use one of those remote contols for Windows Media Center for playback, instead of the pc keyboard. I have hundreds of files, so I hate the idea of converting. How about streaming from the pc to my flat screen tv? How would you do that?

The ideal would be to playback with a remote, on my tv, those Tivo files that are on the pc, but not on the Tivo.

Windows Media Center will not play native .TiVo files. The DirectShow filter that gets installed with Desktop to decrypt them is incompatible with WMC.

You can play them with Windows Media Player and your WMC remote should give you some basic control over WMP (Play, Pause & Stop) but it's not really very useful. I just use a wireless keyboard & mouse to control my home theater PC from the couch.

Converting a one hour show to dvr-ms only takes a few minutes with VideoReDo. kmttg can convert them to straight MPEG-2 just as fast for free, but you have to transfer the original files from the TiVo using the Program Stream format. It can't handle Transport Stream files correctly.

I asked TiVo if there were any plans to rewrite Desktop so that you could play recordings in WMC, and they said no way. It would be nice but I don't really blame them.

Windows Media Center will not play native .TiVo files. The DirectShow filter that gets installed with Desktop to decrypt them is incompatible with WMC.

You can play them with Windows Media Player and your WMC remote should give you some basic control over WMP (Play, Pause & Stop) but it's not really very useful. I just use a wireless keyboard & mouse to control my home theater PC from the couch.

Converting a one hour show to dvr-ms only takes a few minutes with VideoReDo. kmttg can convert them to straight MPEG-2 just as fast for free, but you have to transfer the original files from the TiVo using the Program Stream format. It can't handle Transport Stream files correctly.

I asked TiVo if there were any plans to rewrite Desktop so that you could play recordings in WMC, and they said no way. It would be nice but I don't really blame them.

Is Program Stream the slower method that lets S2s and S3s play nice together?

I tried to download the old free version from CNET and ended up with lots of crapware. Then when I tried to run the exe file I received a message that it was not compatible with my computer (Windows 8.1)

For videos you didn't originally record on the Tivo, you might need software to convert your videos to Mpeg 2, if they aren't already in that format.
VideoReDo is the #1 recommendation around here, mostly due to the editing features.

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Late in getting back, but thanks for the replies. Someone said that Windows Essential Codec would allow me to play back Tivo computer files on Windows Media Center. If so, I could use one of those Media Center remotes to play back, fast forward, etc. I have hundreds of Tivo computer files that I would like to scan through, without having to convert them.

Late in getting back, but thanks for the replies. Someone said that Windows Essential Codec would allow me to play back Tivo computer files on Windows Media Center. If so, I could use one of those Media Center remotes to play back, fast forward, etc. I have hundreds of Tivo computer files that I would like to scan through, without having to convert them.

I think that was me, but I had my Windows products mixed up. Windows Codec Essentials will allow you to play .tivo files on Windows Media Player which is a different animal.